EU brings reg­u­la­tions in line with sanc­tions

BRUS­SELS — The Euro­pean Union has strength­ened its puni­tive mea­sures against North Korea by bring­ing its reg­u­la­tions in line with sanc­tions ap­proved by the UN Se­cu­rity Coun­cil in Au­gust.

The move an­nounced by EU head­quar­ters Thurs­day fol­lows the Se­cu­rity Coun­cil res­o­lu­tion of Aug. 5, which bans North Korea from ex­port­ing coal, iron, lead and seafood prod­ucts es­ti­mated to be worth over $1 bil­lion.

The aim is to pres­sure the regime of Kim Jong Un and de­prive it of hard cur­ren­cies needed to de­velop nu­clear weapons and bal­lis­tic mis­siles.

The UN res­o­lu­tion also bans coun­tries from giv­ing ad­di­tional work per­mits to North Korean labour­ers, an­other source of money for Py­ongyang.

A few hun­dred North Kore­ans now work in the EU, many of them in Poland.